


Fall back into habit

by bouenkyou



Category: Free!
Genre: F/M, Near Future
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-04-11
Updated: 2015-04-11
Packaged: 2018-03-22 09:10:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,562
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3723322
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bouenkyou/pseuds/bouenkyou
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Sousuke and Rin visit Rin's house after graduation, Gou and Sousuke have to learn how to talk to each other again after years of not having much communication.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Fall back into habit

**Author's Note:**

  * For [moewhore](https://archiveofourown.org/users/moewhore/gifts).



> This pairing snuck up on me after watching the Free OVA! After, M and I were talking about it and she kept telling me how great they were and well.... this happened. Dedicated to M, never stop being awesome and keep enabling me as always! 
> 
> Big thanks to Isy for betaing.

“I’m home!”

Gou proceeds to remove her shoes and she notices two pairs of shoes on the entrance. One pair is her brother’s—she smiles in delight because he decided to drop by—the other pair she doesn’t recognize, but by size she can infer it’s probably one of Rin’s friends’.

She makes her way into the house looking for her brother. When she walks into the kitchen, she runs into someone—tan, muscular arms catch her. She only vaguely registers how warm the other body is in the muscle-induced delight that thrills through her. Teal-colored eyes meet hers and they both jump in surprise.

“Sousuke-kun…”

Sousuke looks away almost immediately, as if her gaze burned him. He backtracks, putting some space between them, and stands awkwardly in the middle of the kitchen, looking decidedly out of place.

The kitchen door opens behind Gou—Rin walks in, almost bumping into her back—making the situation even more absurd.

“Woah, what the hell?” he says, missing her by few millimeters.

“Rin—” Both Gou and Sousuke speak his name in unison and then awkwardly shut their mouths when they hear the other speak.

Tense silence stretches between all three and Rin stares at them, his face contorting into a bewildered expression. He stares from Gou to Sousuke and they both look disconcerted and… is that a trace of guilt in Sousuke’s eyes?

“What the hell?” he repeats, eloquently.

“It’s great to see you again, big bro,” Gou expresses, her voice trembling just a little. Rin narrows his eyes. Sousuke walks towards them.

“I’ll be in the living room,” he says, walking past them and out the kitchen. Rin looks after him—maybe something happened, but he’ll talk to Sousuke later. He turns to Gou.

“Congratulations on becoming a third year, Gou!” he says, patting her head. She positively beams at him, the earlier apparent discomfort forgotten.

“Thanks, big bro!”

Rin opens the fridge and pulls out a pastry box from her favorite bakery. She squeals in delight at the sight and accepts the box when he places it on her hands.

“This is to celebrate; you deserve it,” he murmurs awkwardly.

She opens it to find a slice of strawberry shortcake and a small container with golden, fluffy pudding—her two favorite desserts.

“I love you, big bro!” she sing-songs, grabbing a spoon and immediately digging in. She sighs happily at the first mouthful of cake; it’s as delicious as she remembers. She’ll leave the pudding as her after-dinner dessert, she muses as she devours the cake. She’ll have to warn her mother not to eat it!

***

Her homework consumed most of her afternoon, and by the time she’s free and ready to start working on dinner, the sun is already setting.

She makes her way down the stairs and a mouthwatering smell surrounds her—it seems someone beat her to the kitchen. When she walks in, Rin is standing in front of the stove, stirring the simmering curry she smelt from the stairs. He smiles at her when he sees her.

“You were taking so long, I figured I'd start on dinner,” he says, scooping some of the simmering liquid with a saucer and giving it to Gou to taste.

The flavors explode in her mouth; it’s a little spicier than she likes it, but since it’s something Rin made, she’ll be happy to eat it. The pudding waiting for her in the fridge will soothe her palate afterwards.

“Sousuke’s in the living room,” Rin murmurs when Gou gives the saucer back.“I’ll be here for another while, why not go keep him company?”

The suggestion hangs in the air. She doesn’t say anything, but her smile falters and Rin frowns.

“Is something going on? You were weird with him this morning, too,”

“What are you saying, big bro, sheesh!” She swats her hands in front of Rin, her smile returning full force.“I’ll go to the living room, then. The curry is delicious, by the way, can’t wait to eat it!”

There’s noise coming from the living room when she tentatively peeks at the room, standing behind the wall. Sousuke is sitting on the couch, controller in hand and eyes fixed on the TV. The words ‘START’ flashes on the screen before two animated figures appear and start sparring.

Gou silently walks into the living room, the videogame pulling her in. She stands behind Sousuke but doesn’t say anything, afraid that if she does, he’ll lose his concentration. He pushes the buttons in intricate patterns, grunting every now and then when his combos hit. When the screen flashes a sign of his victory, he cheers for himself.

“Wow!” Gou exclaims, clapping.

Sousuke yelps, jumps, and turns his head so quickly Gou winces at the thought that he might have hurt himself.

“Fuck, you scared me,” he mutters, immediately covering his mouth after realizing he just cursed in front of her. He curses again under his breath, his face taking a somber aura.

“Sorry, didn’t mean to scare you,” she mumbles, an awkward smile setting on her lips. The seconds tick away and neither of them say anything, the silence becoming so thick Gou feels like she’s suffocating. A pinging sound coming from the TV draws both of them in. The screen flashes a timer, but before it reaches zero, Sousuke reaches the console and turns it off.

“Where’s Rin?”

Sousuke is kneeling on the floor in front of the console, back turned to Gou, he occupies himself picking all the cables and putting the controller away on top of the console.

The TV is still on, but it’s set on a blue screen, so Gou walks towards it and turns in off. She’s standing next of Sousuke and he looks up at her, his teal piercing gaze locking in her face. The temperature in the room rises, but she can’t decide if it’s the environment playing tricks on her or her body betraying her.

“Rin is making dinner. He said you were here.” She looks around—anything to break eye contact, and remembers the couch is right behind them. Slowly, she walks towards the couch and settles in there, obviously aware that Sousuke’s eyes are following her every move.

Humming, he stands up and turns around, looming in front of her. His gaze strays towards the kitchen and he gives an unsteady step to the side.

“Sousuke-kun…!” she exclaims. He turns back at her, eyes clear and wide open; his eyebrows are raised in a questioning manner, but he doesn’t say anything.

“No, well… you don’t have to go.” The statement come out from her lips weakly, uncertainty evident in her voice.

He frowns deeply and turns his head in the direction of the kitchen for a few beats before sighing and sitting down next to her.  A soft smile unconsciously reaches her lips—she managed to make him stay. Victory sure is sweet.

Victory in one battle doesn’t mean winning war, however, and she soon figures that out in the worse way.

Sousuke is sitting in the far end of the couch, perhaps to have enough space between them, but the armrest is visibly digging into his ribcage. He’s slightly turned away from her, arms crossed over his chest—his defense is so impenetrable that her words die out at her throat every time she tries to speak.

Sousuke doesn’t say anything, and she can’t really blame him because she isn’t speaking, either, but it dawns on her that after years of not communicating, it’s like they’ve forgotten how to speak to each other. She vaguely wonders if it was like this for Sousuke and Rin, too.

“Err…” she starts, unsure. Nothing else comes out of her mouth and panic bubbles deep in her chest; she mentally flails, the silence too loud in her ears. Laughter reaches her, overpowering silence. It’s her turn to look wide-eyed.

“This is silly, isn’t it?” Sousuke chuckles. “We’ve known each other for years and we’re acting like fools.”

Relief pushes its way through her panic and she sighs, nodding. They fall silent again, but it’s no longer uncomfortable. She ventures a look at him and catches him looking at her instead. He gently smiles when their eyes meet.

In a fit of a feeling she can’t identify, she looks away, flustered. Her heart is thudding hard in her chest and she worries he might hear it. She glances at him again and now he’s smirking teasingly. She pouts—that smug face is so unfair.

She just lost a battle.

Quickly, she machinates her revenge.

Even if he’s teasing her and she doesn’t like that, at least the uncomfortable tension between them has dissipated. His body language has completely changed, too; he’s now facing her, his back leaned on the armrest. His arms are still crossed on his chest, but they’re not so tightly pressed against each other. He looks at her expectantly, his face an open challenge.

“Sousuke-kun,” she starts, and he raises his eyebrows, waiting.

“Your shoulder is all better, right?” Her tone is really cheerful and he nods, grinning.

“Yes, I’ve completed all therapy. I can’t swim like before, but I’m getting there.”

To demonstrate, he lifts his arm, rotating it on his shoulder joint. His tank top accentuates his arm muscles and Gou’s eyes are sparkling so much her whole face is lit up. He suddenly winces, apparently forcing the muscle a bit.

“Sometimes I get cramps, though; they’re a bit annoying, but they go away quickly.” He rubs his shoulder absently and she stares at him, new idea in mind.

"Do you…well…I mean…I could give you a massage?" She claps and lunges forward excitedly.

Apparently this isn’t what he expected at all, because a high-pitched yelp escapes his lips and his eyes widen comically, panic and something else she can’t recognize evident in his expression. Gou stares at his changing face and realizes she didn’t expect him to react so strongly.

Deep down she also realizes she really enjoys the fact that she can elicit this kind of reaction from him.

“Eh, w-what,” he sputters and Gou winces empathetically. Maybe she went a bit too far.

“I just recently read about the great healing effect massages have on muscle recovery!” she cheerfully explains while pulling him by his shoulders and trying to put him in a suitable position for her to perform the massage.

He puts up some resistance at first, but she looks at him with her best puppy eyes—the ones that work wonders on Rin and the Iwatobi boys—he complies with a sigh, shoulders slumping when he sits with his back in front of her.

“You really don’t have to,” he says, voice quivering a bit. She swears he sounds almost… nervous? Scared?

“It won’t hurt, I promise!” she assures him in her sweetest tone.

“That isn’t what worries me,” he says with a dry laugh, but doesn’t move and she figures that’s enough encouragement to get to working.

When she sets her hands on his shoulders, he startles and tenses his shoulders. She tries really hard to hold back a chuckle.

“Relax,” she whispers as she hears him sigh, obviously trying hard to do as she said. He straightens and his shoulders slack once again, and she begins kneading the muscles there. They stay silent for a long while until she hits a particularly tense zone and a groan escapes his lips, making her stop.

“Sorry!” His voice takes on that high pitch again and he clears his throat. She can feel heat emanating from him and the tip of his ears are a few shades darker than a second ago.

She’s never seen him like this, and it’s incredibly endearing.

When she’s about to resume the massage, Rin walks in. He stares at them, from Sousuke and Gou and then back.

“What’s going on here?” he asks, his tone so low it sends shivers down Gou’s spine.

“This isn’t—we can explain, really—I swear we weren’t doing anything bad!” Sousuke bolts from the couch, visibly flustered.

Rin frowns at him and then looks at Gou, who’s giving him puppy eyes.

“Right, yeah okay, I believe you—please, Gou, stop giving me that look.” Rin walks towards Gou and ruffles her hair.

“Dinner is ready, ok? Let’s go to the kitchen to eat.”

Before they all walk into the kitchen, Rin shoots another sharp look at Sousuke. Gou smiles sympathetically when he visibly withers.

“I’ll speak with you later; you said you would explain,” Rin growls at him under his breath.

When they eat, the curry is so spicy it brings tears to Gou’s eyes, but Sousuke keeps commenting on how delicious it is. Gou makes a mental note to ask Rin for the recipe. Maybe she can make it for them next time they come.

The thought of a next time makes her heart beats faster, and if her face is flushed, she blames it on the heat of the curry.

After dinner, she picks up her pudding and goes back to the living room, leaving the boys in the kitchen. The conversation they could be having makes her curious, but she knows Rin won’t ask or tell Sousuke anything with her there. They come out long after she’s finished her pudding.

“I’ll be in my room, but we’re leaving when you’re done,” Rin says, immediately going upstairs. Sousuke nods and doesn’t follow him, going into the living room instead.

“Hey,” he says as he sits on the couch next to Gou, “I wanted to thank you for before; my shoulder isn’t cramping anymore.”

His eyes crinkle when he grins at her and his voice sounds so gentle—it fills her stomach with butterflies and makes her heart almost leap out of her chest.

“I asked Rin if… I could keep in contact with you.” He looks away, shoulders tense.

“He told me I should ask you, so…um, would that be ok?” he finishes awkwardly. It takes a couple of seconds for Gou to register what he means.

“Eh?!” she exclaims, blushing.

“Just texting would be fine!” he explains quickly, panicking a little. “Is that not good?”

Gou doesn’t know how to respond but Sousuke is giving her a look that is almost like her puppy eyes. She concedes this battle—but it’s not like she was going to say no to him anyway.

“That would be great!” She pulls out her cellphone and they exchange contact information. Sousuke stands up soon afterwards.

“Rin is waiting; we’re leaving in a bit, but.. I’ll write to you soon,” he says, grinning at her. Her stomach fills with butterflies again and she can’t find her voice to say anything so she just nods and smiles back.

A squeal escapes her lips after he’s gone upstairs. She looks at his contact in her phone and remembers what happened throughout the day. She’ll have to thank Rin later, too.

The next evening, a message from Sousuke arrives and they spend a couple of hours texting back and forth. She can’t believe how easy it is to speak to him now. Afterwards, her body is so filled with adrenaline; she spends an extra hour than usual trying to fall asleep.

Her last thought before drifting off is that she can’t wait to see him again.

 

**Author's Note:**

> This idea was developed around prompt #4 from [this post](http://alwayschoosingdamon.tumblr.com/post/111909165950/send-me-a-pairing-and-a-number-and-ill-write-you)! It was supposed to be a drabble but it grew bigger than I expected it and I allowed it ;; 
> 
> Comments are more than welcome! They make me happy ;; talk sougou to me~


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